Supporting Successful Scottish Healthcare
developing delivery
Finding and developing those who can make the difference
Our mission
Enabling SAS doctors and dentists to achieve their full
clinical potential
Background
The Scottish Health Service is known for the quality of its clinical care.
Staff and Associate Specialists (SAS) doctors and dentists are a vital part
of the teams that enable this service delivery. They make up
approximately 25% of the senior medical workforce and are often
appointed to such posts at an earlier stage than those pursuing a
Consultant career.
It has been recognised, in Scotland and across the UK that achieving a
CCT (doctors) or CCST (dentists) or taking up a Consultant or SAS post,
Funding for our future care
should not mean cessation of career development. Rather it is envisaged

that, while doctors and dentists will practice their learned competencies,
they will also continue to develop new skills to support changing specialist
Training to support a new procedural
service e.g. Functional Endoscopic
service development.
Sinus Surgery

Training to support a new clinic, e.g.
Diabetes eye service

Training to target services with limited
delivery and resultant delays in
patient treatment, e.g. colonoscopy,

Training in the skills required to
resolving local service issues and enabling better local delivery of care.
skills in A&E, paediatric skills
Training to enable a new role in
Aims
This project seeks to channel national funding to those SAS doctors and
dentists whose clinical teams are seeking to develop new or additional
medical and dental education (and so
clinical services. The Scottish Government has committed funding, over an
initial period of three years, to support costs for training, or staff back-fill
release other unit medical time).
during training through existing Deanery placements.
Training to support a new managerial
role within a department, e.g. MDT
chair.

issues affecting care delivery. The Scottish Government recognises this. It
dental sedation
specialist skills, e.g. dental trauma

services, than their consultant colleagues. This can mean that such
doctors and dentists are also closest to an understanding of the practical
believes that additional development of new specialist skills by SAS
doctors and dentists would make a similarly enhanced contribution to
improve senior presence with

Where clinical departments are supported by an SAS doctor or dentist, this
individual is often enabling a proportionately greater delivery of core
Training to enable those SAS doctors,
who wish to achieve CCT to pursue
this.
In addition, funding has enabled the creation and training of a national
network of Educational Advisers (themselves SAS doctors or dentists) to
galvanise and guide local SAS doctors and dentists in making the best use
of this funding.
NHS Education for Scotland is pleased to be the organisation responsible
for overseeing the delivery of this project. In partnership with Health
Boards across Scotland, NES aims to demonstrate the added benefit to
Scottish Healthcare of this focused development of SAS doctors and
dentists.
developing delivery
Guiding interested applicants
Stakeholder support:
The project is supported by a NES-based
implementation group with representation
from Medical Directors (SAMD); DMEs,
Scottish BMA SAS Group, Scottish
Our strategy
Identifying a clinical need: Enabling a transparent
process: Providing a network of support: Evidencing
successful outcomes
NES is committed to the support of all SAS doctors and dentists (in
Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, and
association with their Clinical Director) who are interested in
developing the clinical services that they deliver locally, and who
the Medical and Dental Directorates of
needs training to achieve this.
NES.
A standard and transparent
process:

Clinical Directors are key partners in the planning of any enhancement
to local service provision and, to ensure optimal benefit from funds
allocated, NES will require Clinical Director support and commitment
to the planned service change.
Nationally agreed application forms
A standardised application process will be used, with clear
are available, through SAS Advisers
assessment criteria. Successful applicants will be also asked to report
in each Board and the NES website.
on the subsequent service outcomes achieved.
Please visit our webpage on
www.nes.scot.nhs.uk


All clinical staff in substantive SAS
The Role of the SAS Educational Adviser
appointments are eligible to apply.
Fostering a culture of skills development
A key component of applications is
A national network of advisers will promote the project locally and work
the statement from the relevant
with Directors of Medical Education and Service Leads to identify and
Clinical Director on the applicability of
support those well placed to develop new roles, for the benefit of
clinical service. Through the creation of a local network of SAS staff,
the study to development in clinical
they will promote the recognition of SAS skills and their development.
service.

Agreed criteria are used by a national
Guiding interested applicants
panel to assess and approve or reject
Advisers will be the local lead for advice on suitable applications and,
applications. (Funds are not intended
through the creation of a network of successful applicants and those
SAS staff who have achieved CCT, CCST, or equivalent, will support
for research projects and applications
for long periods of study can only be
local peer-peer guidance for potential applicants. They will also be a
source of contacts at Regional and National level.
approved on a year to year basis.)

These panels meet quarterly.
Evidencing improvement
Advisers and Directors of Medical
In order to support the evaluation of this investment in development,
advisers will be the key contact for the gathering of local information
Education will be made aware of the
deadline dates for applications to be
received ahead of these.

A list of successful applications will be
published on the website, and casestudies of service improvements.
developing delivery
about the progress and outcome of each application.
Your SAS Development Network
In association
with each Health Board, NES has
© NHS
Ed
appointed SAS doctors and dentists to the posts of SAS
Educational Adviser. Names of each board contact can
be found on our website.
http://www.nes.scot.nhs.uk (under Medicine/Medical
Training/Supporting Specialty Doctors)
Quarterly meetings of the network support the
development of these advisers and allow learning from a
shared discussion of issues and best practice.
Local board-based networks relate to this and are
managed by each SAS Educational Adviser.
Prof Hazel Scott (Associate Postgraduate Dean) and
Prof Gillian Needham (Postgraduate Dean) provide
leadership and direction for the network and the project
as a whole. Gillian Campbell provides administrative
support.
The SAS Development Project
NHS Education for Scotland
2 Central Quay
3rd Floor
89 Hydepark Street
Glasgow
G3 8BW
Contact: SASProject@nes.scot.nhs.uk
Telephone Number: 0141 223 1509
developing delivery
© NHS Education for Scotland 2013. You can copy or reproduce the information in this document for use within NHSScotland and for
non-commercial educational purposes. Use of this document for commercial purposes is permitted only with the written permission of
NES.